Etihad Airways and the Red Crescent collaborate to increase Breast Cancer screening in the UAE

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has donated an ultrasound machine to the Red Crescent to assist the organisation’s nation-wide efforts in programs to promote early detection and treatment of breast cancer among Emirati women.

Ray
Gammell, the airline’s Chief People and Performance Officer, Aubrey Tiedt, Vice
President of Guest Services, and Dr Nadia Bastaki, Senior Medical Officer/Clinical
Lead – Aviation, presented the machine to H.E Rashed Mubarak Al Mansouri, Deputy
Secretary General for Local Affairs of the Red Crescent and the Red Crescent
delegation, at a ceremony held at the Etihad Training Academy yesterday.

“Etihad
Airways strongly believes in its responsibility to support our local
community,” said Ray Gammell. “Our goal in working with the Red Crescent is to
ensure that women throughout the UAE will have access to a potentially
life-saving service.”

The
Etihad Airways Medical Centre marks global breast cancer awareness month in
October each year with a program to raise awareness of breast cancer among the
staff and the community, focusing on the importance of early detection through
regular self-examinations and screenings. The program includes panel
discussions with holistic practitioners, doctors, patients and families.

In 2012,
for the second consecutive year, the medical centre sponsored a mobile
mammography unit, operated by Burjeel Hospital, which provided free mammograms
to the airline’s female staff and at malls in Abu Dhabi.

Last
year, the Etihad Airways breast cancer awareness campaign raised over AED
68,000 through the sale of pink ribbon pins and bracelets, donations from
staff, and bake sales by the cabin crew.

The
airline decided to allocate the donations to support the Red Crescent’s Rosary
Campaign for Breast Cancer Exploration, a mobile clinic providing breast cancer
screening and mammographies to women in the remote areas of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain
and Sharjah. To date, the mobile clinic has assisted over 800 women, age 40 and
above, in areas such as Alqua, Delma Island, Al Marfa and Ghantoot. The new
ultrasound machine will allow the mobile clinic to screen younger women between
the ages of 20 and 39, providing a much needed service to an estimated 15,000
women annually.

H.E Rashed Mubarak Al
Mansouri said: “I would like to express
our gratitude and appreciation to Etihad Airways for its support of our efforts
to raise awareness of breast cancer. We consider Etihad Airways as our
strategic partner in humanitarian efforts and socially responsible projects, and
the donation of this machine that works toward the early detection of breast
cancer will help us to reach those who are in remote areas of the country and
do not have immediate access to these kinds of vital healthcare services.”

Dr Nadia
Bastaki said: “Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women in
the UAE, and unfortunately it is usually caught in the late stages. But if we
can raise awareness throughout the community and encourage women to be screened
at an earlier age, we can start to change those statistics.”

According
to the UAE Ministry of Health, cancer is the second-leading cause of death for
women in the UAE, with breast cancer as the most common denominator. The Etihad
Airways CSR program encourages staff members to be actively involved in
promoting activities at the headquarters and throughout the community to raise
awareness of the disease.

“The
Etihad Airways Guest Services team is always willing to work for socially
responsible causes and we are very pleased and excited to see the result of our
efforts in helping the Red Crescent,” said Aubrey Tiedt. “Early detection of
breast cancer is essential to survival. It is our hope that this new ultrasound
machine will be of significant benefit to younger women in this region and that
it will help in raising awareness of this life-threatening disease.”

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